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The violent climax of the demonstration in Baltimore on Saturday was entirely predictable. The narrative that you are hearing from large media outlets and politicians (including Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake) is also predictable: A peaceful demonstration hijacked by a few out-of-town agitators, causing the larger message of justice and non-violent resistance to be diluted or lost.
I attended the demonstration from its beginnings at Baltimore’s City Hall and then followed it through the streets until around 7 pm. My perspective departs somewhat from the mainstream, and you can see what I witnessed in the video above. The video focuses mostly on the interaction between police and demonstrators and also the events after the crowd moved from city hall to roam the streets.
Those in the know expected trouble Saturday. For days, some of the march’s organizers openly promised to “shut down” the city, stating that it would not be “business as usual” in Baltimore on Saturday. Dozens of news camera crews set up on the periphery of the demonstration and roamed the crowd. In their public comments, the mayor and police commissioner walked a fine line between supporting the right to demonstrate and urging non-violence. But police from other jurisdictions had been summoned in anticipation of unruly behavior.
In spite of the sometimes-fawning media coverage of the early parts of the protest, this was no civil-rights era type of event. While a few of the speeches at city hall focused on peaceful pursuit of justice and a call for action, most of the rhetoric was more inflammatory, designed to whip up anger in the crowd. Here is a sampling of some of the chants led from the podium and in the streets that were not promoting peaceful protest:
“What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now. How do we want it? By any means necessary.”
“No justice, no peace. No racist police.”
“No justice, no peace. If we don’t get it, shut it down.”
Not exactly “We Shall Overcome”. There was a large presence of groups endorsing a variety of far left-wing causes with signage and leaflets. It is difficult to assess how much of the crowd was local, but it was clear there was a significant presence of well-organized, out-of-town groups.
At city hall, some in the crowd were devoted full-time to hurling invective at the police positioned at a few locations behind barriers. The black officers were a particular target of venom, being called “traitor” and “Uncle Tom” and other names that I won’t put into print.
Around 5:30 pm, the protesters took to the streets. This was when the character of the event began to change. The majority of the marchers at this point were younger than at city hall, and many ran ahead, first toward Harbor Place and then to Camden Yards. At several point along the way, streets were deliberately blocked with appropriated traffic cones and people lying in the street.
The police at the stadium were prepared as the crowd moved to several points of entry. At the barricades some began throwing bottles and other objects at the police, always from the back of the crowd. A few threw other, larger objects into the barricade. The police did not take the bait and stayed behind the barricades.
At the vanguard of the marchers were groups of youths and younger men (many now covering their faces), running ahead from the main body of the protesters, seemingly looking for a softer target than the lines of police around the ballpark. They eventually found one at an area across from the stadium where several bars and mobile food vendors are located. They attacked the patrons who were standing outside enjoying a pre-game drink or meal and ransacked and looted the stands of a few of the vendors.
Around the corner, a few men threw barricades and chairs at the windows of a restaurant, breaking one of them and terrorizing the patrons inside. A few hundred yards up the street, the mob broke into parked police cars and stole items from within. You can see some of the protesters wearing police hats toward the end of the video.
Soon after, I headed out of the area, knowing that as darkness fell and the demonstration splintered into smaller groups, the danger to everyone around would increase. In fact, the baseball fans were held in the stadium for half an hour after the end of the game for their own safety.
My take-way from the events of Saturday is as follows:
- The arrest of Freddie Gray was the catalyst for the demonstrations in Baltimore, but there is a larger agenda behind those organizing and many attending this event.
- The objects of criticism in the speeches at the rally included all police, the Baltimore police commissioner and mayor, the Attorneys General of the U.S. (both outgoing and incoming) and the President. Interestingly all specifically named are African-American. There was no railing in general at “white people” and there was no reason for those not wearing a blue uniform to feel uncomfortable at the rally. Anger at the police, however, was nearly universal.
- Almost all of the speeches and chants at the rally and subsequent march were designed to be inflammatory and lacked basis in fact. The picture painted was of racist police hunting down and killing young black men. Much of it was wildly emotional, shallow, and immature. Here’s an example. At the stadium a line of police were in their regular uniforms, not in riot gear. After being having missiles rained on them, most of them put on helmets. The crowd then took up the chant “Why are you in riot gear, there is not a riot here.” The chant stems from the absurd argument that claims that police preparing for violence actually causes the violence.
- The unruly and criminal behavior after the rally was perpetrated by a combination of loosely organized groups looking to cause trouble and young locals who saw an opportunity for some “fun”.
- The behavior of the police was brave, restrained, and professional. This is evident in the video. One must remember that there are human beings inside those uniforms, and they stood stalwartly in the face of constant verbal abuse and hails of missiles. Nobody wants to be painted with a broad brush or be declared guilty by association.
- The behavior of those who rioted was cowardly. You will notice from the video that the missiles aimed at police always came from the back of the crowd. Those confronting the police directly were careful to take their abuse just up the point that they knew the police would not respond. You can also see how the rioters attacking the crowd at the bars threw from a distance or threw a large object from up close and then ran back to the safety of the mob.
- Many of the demonstrators tried bravely to restrain the behavior of the crowd. Some of them appeared to be designated marshals (wearing orange vests). After the buildup to this event and inflammatory rhetoric throughout, it was unrealistic to think it was possible to restrain the crowd once loosed on the streets.
Fifty years ago the civil rights activists peacefully marched for change, often putting themselves in great personal danger. They suffered verbal and physical abuse from police and opponents, with some losing their lives in the process. Their actions shamed a nation and moved it toward a greater understanding of the plight of minorities. The demonstrators in Baltimore yesterday merely shamed themselves and damaged their cause.
Good analysis of an explosive situation. It matches what I saw unlike the local media coverage given while it was happening.